Over 8,000 Afghans expelled in a week: UNHCR

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has expelled more than 8,000 Afghan nationals in the past week in a fresh repatriation drive after the expiry of a March 31 deadline, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Tuesday.

All Afghan nationals who have no legal documents to stay or those holding Afghan Citizen Cards had been warned by Islamabad to return home or face deportation.

Authorities say they have set up temporary centers in various cities to house the Afghan nationals before transporting them to Torkham border crossing.

At least 8,906 Afghan nationals have been deported since April 1, the UNHCR said in a WhatsApp message.

Kabul has termed the repatriation as forced deportation. “There is no doubt that the forced deportation of Afghan migrants and this unilateral action is against all international, Islamic, and neighbourly principles,” Abdul Motalib Haqqani, a spokesman for the Afghan ministry of migration and repatriation, said in a statement on Tuesday.

“Since this matter concerns two countries, it is essential to work on a mutually agreed mechanism to ensure the dignified return of Afghans to their homeland,” he said.

Pakistan says it plans to accelerate the drive to repatriate the roughly four million Afghans who crossed the border during 40 years of armed conflict in their home country and after the Taliban seized power in 2021.

Islamabad announced at the start of March that 800,000 Afghan Citizen Cards would be cancelled—the second phase of a deportation programme which has already expelled around 800,000 undocumented Afghans. An average of 4,000 Afghans crossed the border from Pakistan on Sunday and Monday, “far higher than the March daily average of just 77”, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) told AFP.